


Whatever happened to Feliciano Vargas?

by Samstar1990



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: A little, I attempt to write a mystery, Lovino might be going insane, Missing Persons, Mystery, Prussia thinks everyone has gone insane, a few headcannons slotted in fro fun and drama, alot of running, ignore if you wish, missing nation, they haven't
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:00:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29494701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samstar1990/pseuds/Samstar1990
Summary: Who?There is only one personification of Italy.There has never been more than one per nationAre you sure you are feeling alright?-----------------------------------{updates every Tues till it is done]
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	1. The phantom in the meeting hall

**Author's Note:**

> This was the first fic I wrote completely before I started posting...ish
> 
> technically I am like 2 chapters off but who is counting. This is my first mystery style writing so don't expect perfection. I slip in my headcanons ever so often but they are either to cause emotion or because when will I ever get the chance to use them? Don't worry I don't expect you to take them as canon haha.
> 
> If this one does well I have a much more complicated mystery I have been dying to try that I am hoping to make with audience participation. Like a whodunnit! So please let me know if that interests you.
> 
> obligatory I am dyslexic but trying my best so I am sorry.

Gilbert was a nation; or at least he was in spirit, in his head, and in his tinder profile. He yawned reaching out for the pole to pull himself up from the train seat in the early hours of the morning, the light was peaking in between the buildings and he groaned lifting his hand to block the view. Finally escaping the blinding light of morning his eyes flickered to the scars that littered his knuckle, his frown deepened. It wasn’t his first scar, not by a long shot but this one was different. A constant reminder his life had changed. Alone among strangers, his cocky façade had dropped completely, a moment's rest before the show begins.

He had spent the past year discovering himself. Bucket list fully crossed off as he jumped around the world by himself, he even grew a small following via his travel vlogging. It didn’t mean much, it was just a faster easier way to collect photos and videos of his Year of Awesome. It was the perfect plan! Crash the meeting after a long absence, and as shock and awe ripples over the other nations who fully trust and respect him then he would invite a select few to his viewing party. In his brother’s room of course as well as a bounty of room service. No matter how they begged to be in it he had standards to keep.

Giddy with anticipation he shoved his hand roughly into his jacket pocket and all but galloped from the train, taking steps two at a time as he bounded down the stairs and out onto street level. He paused a moment before he grasped his bearings but he knew his destination soon enough. That and a few familiar faces hanging around the entrance caught his attention. Two in particular being close friends. Or at least Frenemies in crime. Francis; République française, was busy trying to get his hair to feel right, blonde strands escaping from his fingers earning another grunt of dissatisfaction. To his right Antonio; Reino de España, watched with a playful smirk. Both were having some form of a pre-meeting smoke break. Centuries of the habit were a little too hard to break.

“No need to worry boys! Your king has returned!” The Prussian declared throwing his arms wide and posing in dramatic fashion. The Spaniard removed the stick from his mouth and laughed flashing a larger smile than before.

“Ah! Como has estado Gilberto! I was beginning to think you had run away”

“I admit it was a lot quieter without you mon ami” Francis chimed abandoning his hair plans at that moment

Gilbert mocked hurt dramatically swaying to the wall with his hand to his chest “You didn’t even call!”

The three laughed together before the albino began to gush wildly over his adventures the last year. Antonio and Francis cast a look between themselves, both unsure if they missed Gil or had forgotten they were just used to his energy.

“Eh, um lo siento, but we are pushing our luck as it is, Ludwig will have our behinds if we are late again”

“Hey, no problem! I will just hang around the bar and then you guys get to be invited to my welcome back party! Just as soon as I figure out which room he is in.” Gil put a hand to his chin “I guess I could always get it out of Italy"

The Spaniard blinked looking confused as he snubbed out the cigarette on the wall near the bin “I am not sure why he would know”

The Prussian looked at the other with wild eyes, such blasphemes! He would have spoken up in defense of his little Feli, but Francis swore, looking at his watch tossing the stick onto the floor.

“Later, I am sure my dear friend will be willing to drown me in enough alcohol to make the meeting hell worthwhile” He winked at the other and the two made their way inside at a quick pace. Gilbert stood a moment wondering if his brother had managed to somehow tick off his little ball of sunshine, looking down finding the discarded light still burning, bringing a foot down on the orange ember at the end.

Settling down at the end of the long bar, he waited patiently scrolling through his phone. Names of people whizzed past his eyes, perhaps if he took a moment to get the social feed he might get a few filter pictures of Germany giving a speech. Since the invention of face filters, these so-called professional events had become the stupid picture Olympics. He wasn’t disappointed, the first being the old reliable dog ear filter. He muffled a chuckle into his hands looking over the likes and passing between accounts, slowly the smile turned to a confused and concerned expression.

Feliciano really must be mad, he was usually liking every image and even daring some comments on the images. Eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out the reasons and possibilities of what the German could have done to be in such a position. Unless, he theorised, the Italian was too busy taking his own shots. Gil scrolled to the search bar and typed in the name of the North Italian’s account and was met with an error screen.

‘Account not found’

He scratched his head, odd he was sure he had excellent memory of account names, maybe he changed it? Guess he would have to rummage through his friends list and hope the profile picture was easy to spot. He tapped the friends list link.

“Gilbert!” The voice caught his attention, laying his phone face down on the bar surface before turning to see the meeting room spilling out. Antonio waved at him as they approached. “I told Italy you wanted to talk to him, he is just cleaning up some of his files.”

“Ah, I knew there was a stink in the air!” Elizaveta; Magyarország strutted over, an annoyed expression already plastered to her face

“Seriously, Eli-boo, if the wind changes your face will stick and you don’t exactly have much in the ways of looks, to begin with,” Gil smirked leaning back on the bar looking between the two. She took the bait, and he had to admit he missed their back and forth.

“You got some nerve, I heard you left a note on a napkin and took off, people were starting to take bets on if you were dead”

“Yeah, thanks for making me lose that” To their right, Sadiq; Türkiye Cumhuriyeti. Dragged his glass from the counter “Be a pal and pretend to be a ghost if Hercules finds ya ok?”

“Seriously?” The Prussian spoke with a dead pan “I literally had a running blog that none of you happened to find… beside I didn’t MEAN to just leave a note…I kinda ran late for my flight”

There were some grumbles and laughter among those who had greeted the return of the Prussian. Although most were more content in drowning their sorrows in hope after the recess between meetings they might just blank the entire second half. Quick footsteps caught Gilbert’s attention, coming fast in their direction he could have sworn there was some urgency in the sound. 

Lovino; Repubblica Italiana, approached looking worn out, tapping the Spaniard on the shoulder to signal his arrival.

“Ah, Lovi! Gilbert was asking about you!” He moved aside to allow the newcomer some room as the whole world continued to try and shove themselves around the bar. The Italian looked uncomfortable but filled the space and looked the other up and down.

“Since when do you want to talk to me? And so fucking formally at that?” Lovino snorted putting an hand to hip, waiting expectantly. Gilbert blinked a couple of times and then looked between the people who had gathered nearby waiting for the punchline that never came.

“Funny...real funny, I get it I asked for Italy” The Prussian admitted with a sigh putting a hand to his head in frustration closing his eyes to refocus himself “But I actually wanted a different one”

He expected there to be laughter but none came, it made him uneasy. Peeking out his eye meet something odd. Lovino’s posture had changed, he had stiffened, hands raised a little almost defensively. His eyes seemed shocked and almost a little sad. Elizaveta was giving him an evil eye.

“That isn’t funny Gilbert” She muttered reaching forward and putting a hand on Lovino’s shoulder, confusion seemed infectious as Gilbert’s expression near mirrored the Italian’s

“I thought it was weird to ask to talk to him...” Antonio muttered, his aura a little darker as he became more and more protective. “You never did like Lovi, but asking for someone else to take his place...Gilipollas”

The hostility was off-putting and Gilbert couldn’t place the origin, a few unrelated nations seemed to sense the awkward nature and shuffled away. Lovino cleared his throat.  
“Why do you think there would be someone else?” His voice seemed to crack.

“Because you’re South Italy…” He spoke slowly starting to fear for his life, if this was a joke, it wasn’t funny anymore “I was hoping to talk to North Italy”

“North Italy…” Lovino began before Antonio tugged him away seemingly having enough

“I don’t know what this North and South bull is, Lovino been stressed lately, your ‘teasing’ isn’t helping”

“What are you talking about? I thought that was how we were telling the two apart”

“Gilbert, there is only one representation per nation… the only time we really had two was the Berlin wall…are you feeling ok? Maybe you should take a nap and reset your brain” Hungary held a harsh but caring tone, watching the group slowly begin to file back into the next meeting until it was just the two of them “I thought you stopped giving him a hard time decades ago…you stopped making Roman Empire jokes but trying to claim he is not strong enough to represent his own country that a little far. Grow up Gilbert”

Still perplexed in his own confusion he watched the brunette turn on her heel and walk away, the clicking of her boots filling the air. He turned on his stool leaning on his hands “The fuck…why is everyone acting so screwy?”

“Hey!” Gil jumped in his chair spinning to see the Italian had returned

“What? I’m sorry I somehow insulted you?!” He clambered looking around to see he was alone. Lovino bit his lip thinking something over, his mouth opened and closed a few times as if he was trying to figure out how to say.

“Who is Feliciano Vargas?”

It was a question with force, once again the day knocked him into confusion and his nervous laughed. “Is this a part of the prank? Feli is your brother, North Italy, Venice I think….that’s what Veneziano means right?”

Lovino’s eyes grew sad again but then seemed almost relieved, a smile forcing itself onto his face as his defensive form deflated.

“You…you actually fucking remember”


	2. Reset and Refresh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter! I'm glad people seem to enjoy it! I hope you guys are ready for more! 
> 
> I really want to become a full author so hearing people enjoy my writing even a little is so uplifting! That and I really like showing off different AUs and ideas. Turns out Fanfics are a good way to practice story planning haha.
> 
> Anyways! Please enjoy!!

Perplexing.

Yep, that was the word. Perplexing… Gilbert sipped at his beer, even the taste of one of his favourite things was not enough to distract him. After the weird discussion during the break, Lovino had left without a word, Gilbert made an audible noise of confusion abandoned by friends and apparently all common sense. Night drew in and the meetings for the day were done. Again he heard the fast-paced clicking of shoes towards him and physically braced for some form of lecture, but instead turned to find the Italian returned with new vigour and a very confused Spaniard. Lovino pointed down to the chair next to one he was claiming at the bar.

“Sedersi” He commanded and the other obliged slipping into the seat. Lovino followed suit sitting down between the two males and turned to stare at Gilbert “You are buying right?”

Gilbert’s eyes darted between Lovino and Antonio, his green-eyed friend just shrugging just as confused. Sighing, the Prussian called over the bartender for them to order, feeling the sting on his already dwindling personal funding. Lovino practically chugged half of his glass, gearing up and loosening his shoulder like he was about to go on some grand adventure.

“I need to know it wasn’t a fluke…you think there are two Italies correct?”

“Yeah…a North and South”

“This again?” Antonio leant onto the bar seemingly still in a mood. Lovino clicked his tongue reaching over and flicking the Spaniard on the nose, he recoiled staring Lovino in the eye betrayed.

“I didn’t bring you here to be a fucking baby now shut up”

There was a moment where it seemed Antonio would snap back but Lovino just made a few noises every time he opened his mouth, hand ready with the threat of another flick. The Spaniard was effectively silenced. The puppy returned to his drink, hurt. The Italian rubbed his back as a sign of comfort glancing at Gilbert.

“This…means I was right…” He sighed “I just thought it was what happened”

“Yes. This provides me with all the information I need to understand what is going on” Gilbert snorted

“Watch it…I’ll flick your nose”

There was a pause, Gilbert thought over his options and his intrigued got the better of him. “Please continue then…”

“Well…for a while now, everyone has been calling me Italy, it threw me off at first but after I couldn’t get in contact with…him…no matter what I tried, even going to his home in Venice…I began to wonder if this is what happens when nations…move on”

“Wonder what happens?”

Lovino paused, the whole atmosphere of the place around him changed as he turned to Antonio.

“Yo, bastard” He muttered catching the other's attention immediately with a noise of affirmation “How many representations of Italy are there?”

“Well, just you…unless you count Seborga…” Antonio muttered clearly unsure where this question was coming from. Lovino nodded looking back to Gilbert to check he was watching. He took a long deep breath and let it out slowly looking back to the Spaniard.

“Antonio” He spoke with more purpose this time “Tell me…Who is Feliciano Vargas?”

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, this seemed like such a dumb question and Antonio looked at him bewildered. Then after a moment something odd happened, the Prussian found his heart dropping into his stomach it was so bizarre.

Antonio expression became neutral, his eyes felt blank and lacking any life at all. He turned from Lovino staring down at the bar and seem to reset back into the reclined position he had moments ago. Like watching a video rewind. Lovino waited and raised a hand counting down from five.

“Antonio…I asked you a question!” He snapped seemingly catching Antonio off guard as he clutched his drink.

“S-sorry Lovi, did you? I must have not heard you” He was sheepish and turned back to the Italian “What was it?”

Another long breath “Who is Italia Veneziano?”

Gilbert watched the same scene play out again, watching Antonio rewind back to the relaxed pose as if the question had never been asked “What the fuck?” He whispered, gripping onto the side of the bar tightly  
.  
Lovino seemed to dishearten, reaching up and fixing a lock or two of Antonio’s hair, who seemed to respond a little but was still in a weird blank daze. 

“They all respond like that, if I don’t snap at them they come around like they were in the middle of a daydream…”

“So that’s…huh” Gilbert responded before his body language became larger “So…don’t mention Feli at this time. But what is all this crap about me bullying you when you were younger?”

Lovino folded his arms and gave the other a look. Prussia rolled his eyes “Ok…but it was light ribbing at most, I don’t recall belittling you and making Roman Empire jokes”

“Neither do I…it’s like history in their minds has been, twisted. It’s weird though…other nations who have passed on, I remember but then again, Italy was always different…and technically a potential nation has been forgotten so I figured it was similar”

“Really? This isn’t like a Papal state thing, is it? Because I remember those fuckers”

“No!” He snapped “My Nonno, he was a twin…but no one remembers the other, I just assumed he was a nation, I mean assuming you are born a nation”

Gilbert thought it over, clearly, this had shaken Lovino, the worry and exhaustion were etched into dark bags beneath his eyes. “What about the people?”

“People?”

“Yeah…have you asked any of the people who lived near Feli? He was always nattering on about a woman or a man he had drinks with”

Lovino paused a moment like a drop in the ocean, realisation rippled across his face. He leant on the bar and thought long and hard, never even thinking about asking the people of his own nation how could he be so dumb. “I guess I was grieving the loss of someone before I even knew what happened to him, that and every time I…slipped up, people did this resetting thing, I can’t believe you of all people are my comfort right now that I’m not crazy”

There was a tug at Lovino, it seemed Antonio had re-joined the land of the living, he looked tired stretching a little. The Italian rolled his eyes “Yes, yes I get the hint. Jeez can’t even find the room without my help can you?”

“That’s not true…if I leave you with Gilbert how can I be sure you two won’t end up drunk in a ditch”

“Yeah…because I fucking suck at peer pressure right?” There was another shake of Lovino's head “Hey Gil…I will show you that weird thing in Venice tomorrow”

The Prussian watched the two get up finishing their drinks “Don’t you have another meeting tomorrow”

“Che, like I fucking care”

Some time past, nursing the same beer up until the bar closed, sooner or later he would end up in Ludwig’s room regardless. The idea of Feli’s disappearance felt like science-fiction, even seeing the odd behaviour in Antonio, something about seems so out of this world. He had to know for himself. The phone laying abandoned was snatched up, he thumbs through every social app he knew Feli to have. 

-Username invalid-

-Account does not exist-

-Error-

-Error-

-Does not exist-

His heartbeat quicken as the rabbit hole collapsed deeper and deeper. One last chance, he opened his contacts and scrolled down to Italy’s number, smashing the call button and raising it to his ear. There was no dial tone, but instead, one that chimes when the number does not even exist. He was left with a sober thought, something rang very wrong with this whole situation.


	3. Return to the start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading this and commenting.
> 
> The interaction this fic has had has been giving me so much confidence. And I am planning to write more which will be uploaded once this fic is finished. If you guys are interested in any particular genres and subjects please let me know! Anything to get more experience in writing for my own original works!

The light of the phone screen continued to illuminate his eyes, they were tired but sleep eluded him in the shadows of the hotel room. With insomnia came the cold bitter feeling, similar to water dumped over your head, Gilbert had started with searching for his name, his likes, his interests, and from there began a long painful manual search of people’s photos. Photos he knew should have Feli in them. Many were gone like dust but a lot remained. But they seemed to lack the individual, a small barely noticeable space where bright eyes should shine back.

He was beginning to question his own sanity, in the early hours of the morning as the light began to filter in through the gaps in the curtains. Exhaustion dared to make him wonder if Feliciano really did exist at all, maybe it was Lovino who was going crazy. When those thoughts slipped in, Gilbert would close the browser window and open the gallery, a burst of relief washing over him seeing his own photos with the missing individual drove those thoughts away and brought a smile to his face. His vision blurred and Gil found himself sitting upright and wiping his eyes to try and stop the tears from breaking. The amazing thing about knowing nations is you can just go away for a year and know they will be there when you come back. No matter how lonely you feel or how much you miss those people you can guarantee they are where you left them. But someone he cared about with a lot of his heart was now missing, worry and longing replaced it now. Phone abandoned on his lap as one hand rubbed the injured knuckles, he just had to make it to morning.

Germanic brothers by blood or by circumstance have very specific morning routines, each moment has a reason from waking, to brushing teeth to dressing. Ludwig had not been impressed to have his sleep interrupted by a barrage of knocks at his door finding Gil beaming and smelling of alcohol, but the stoic blond found himself worried, it wasn’t hard to spot the lack of sleep, slowly his hands moved to tie the knot of his tie before he broke.

“Gilbert, did you sleep at all last night?”

“Hmm? Sure I did!”

“You are lying, I have never seen your eyes so red”

“My eyes have always been red, perks of lacking pigment or some shit” Gilbert chuckled clicking at his phone screen. Ludwig sighed giving up and sitting down on the edge of the bed opposite the one the Prussian was sat on. Another long silence. Gilbert looked over at the other and gave a big goofy smile trying hard to give the illusion of having his life together, but the idea that Ludwig used to share a room with Feliciano kind of soured the mood. “So um… how come you got a room with two beds?”

“I used to do it because you had a bad habit of crashing the meetings…guess it’s just my habit now, always tends to feel like someone is in the other bed anyway” He admitted “I get comforted by that idea sometimes”

The Prussia paused biting at his lip, did he dare? Clearly, these emotions and ideas were sparked by the small slither of a memory.

“Didn’t…you used to share with Feli?”

“Who?”

“Feliciano…” It was hard to tell if Ludwig even had reset, unlike Antonio, his movements were not so energetic, but the blank stare gave it away. Gilbert found himself rolling his eyes hard and getting up, fully aware the other was in a daze and using it to his advantage. “Well, don’t you fret, I will be away today and see you later so no crashing your precious meetings”

The Prussian closed the door quite harshly, he just felt nauseous. Looking up and down the hallways he could see nations slowly making their ways out of their rooms, most liking so they could hide whatever contraband in their desks before General No Fun got down there. He narrowed his eyes, so… Feli wasn’t enough to trigger the reset, and it seemed that even if some didn’t remember him directly, their impact seemed to linger. Was it some side effect? Or was it because their memories aren’t really gone. No wonder Lovino was going half-crazy in a world like this.

“Shit Gilbert, you look pale” Francis approached, canvas bag over his shoulder looking the other over with concern “Well, paler than usual, Tu te sens bien?”

“Jet lag, soooo much jet lag” Gilbert deflected looking the other up and down with weary eyes

“Elizaveta informed me on what happened yesterday, don’t let it get to you” The Frenchmen pet his shoulder “I know you are only teasing, how were you suppose to know Lovino has been super stress recently, I admit it is very out of character for him”

“Thanks, I guess, though I really thought someone, in particular, was going to kill me”

“You and I both know he is past that…nowadays he just swims his frustrations out”

“Yeah I know that, but have you actually watched him do rage laps? It’s like watching an orca practice for catching seals” Gilbert shuddered “I don’t want to get involved in that”

Francis chuckled but nodded fully understanding what the other meant when a sharp whistle shattered the more relaxed mood. Both sets of eyes turned to the source to see the Italian standing by the stairwell, bundled up in his old faithful sport’s jacket, and tight jeans. He was very impatient it seemed, most likely wanted to get away before Antonio got up.

“Ah he seems to be somewhat back to normal…but not dressed appropriately”

“Yeah um, Lovino and I are ditching today…so um…yeah”

There was a flash of something in Francis’ eyes as he smirked coming closer, a hand upon his stubble “Since when were you two so buddy buddy, and it looks like you are avoiding our friend…enemies to lovers never really suited you Gilbert”

“It's not like that, I am just…aware of how people are about Lovino and I figured I would make up for my years of teasing…” He slipped away from his friend and down the hall “But don’t tell Toni, I don’t need that in my life right now”

“Lips are sealed” The blond winked and waved him off with a chuckle. Would be his funeral anyway was all he thought.

Lovino pulled the car around and waved Gilbert over, anticipation prickled both of them, and the contrasting levels of energy sparked like static. Yet they soldiered on driving away from the city and heading towards the floating buildings of Venice.

“We won’t be able to take the car all the way, and Feli never cared enough to get his own boat in this modern age” Lovino bit the inside of his cheek “Hope you are ready for a walk, Venice is pretty warm this time of year”

“So what? We are ditching the car?”

“Easiest thing is to park inland and get a bus out, so that’s what we are doing”

“You don’t seem the type to use public transport” Gilbert chuckled leaning against the window watching the scenery pass

“Not my favourite, but Venice isn’t car-friendly for obvious fucking reasons, so we are taking the bus” He grumbled rubbing his temples.

“You ok? Should we pull over?”

“Didn’t sleep very well…thinking” The Italian muttered taking the turning he needed “But I’m Romulus’ Grandson, Vargas blood is designed to get shit done even if we crawl there. Besides, after the stunt, you pulled yesterday sparking a lot of resets. It’s dumb but it feels like we are now on the clock.”

“You think I am gonna reset?” Gilbert asked as they pulled up at the next light. Lovino looked over at him and then looked him up and down before making a face.

“Every other nation resets…can’t see why you would be any fucking different”

Gilbert’s face dropped at the mention of nations and he sat upright “Y-yeah….but I bet someone as awesome as myself won’t ever reset. S-so don’t be too overwhelmed in my presence”

He heard Lovino groaned at his inflated ego giving the Albino time to turn away, no point in putting more complications into this. Find Feli first. Eyes glanced down at his hand, he slowly pulled up the sleeve and stared at the small puncture scars on his knuckles.

Find Feli first.


	4. The calling of Gods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to apologize if anything is wrong with the description of Venice. It's mostly based on my own experience when I went on holiday there, which hopefully I will get a chance to go back sometime haha.
> 
> Once again beware, my own headcanons lay ahead. Especially in this chapter

The road to Venice never stopped being a breath-taking sight. The pale stone buildings surrounded by a roadway of canals really were a world away from most other places on the planet. The bus pulled into the bay at the station and the passenger bundled off. Gilbert followed Lovino off listening to him muttered about at least not taking the one from the airport and how he didn’t want to deal with tourists in his current mood. The albino chuckled and looked around, wondering where they were going from here. Usually, the Italian personifications only invited the closest of people to their single own homes. Everyone else only ever got to see the apartment in Rome they shared when needing to work. There was a buzz of excitement he was getting to see Feli’s secret art hideaway.

“Ok, just…listen to me Gilbert” He sighed “Venice is full of tourist traps and shitty knockoffs. Ignore anyone on the street who gives you attention, don’t accept roses, don’t even acknowledge anyone with products on tarps.”

“Right ok, is that really a problem?”

“Yeah, it’s kinda illegal here, so don’t encourage it, the locals sure don’t” The Italian stretched feeling his back pop back into place “Follow me”

They walked a little way into the main island walking beneath small arches and through courtyard gardens surrounded by mosaics, street art, and small cafes. Slowly the world around them became quieter and quieter until they came to a gated courtyard, Lovino was quick to retrieve the key and unlock it holding the gate open for the other. Gilbert passed through and into the cute little courtyard beyond, it was breath-taking to him; about six houses held their entrance into the paved square all surrounding a small statue in the middle, over the years, ivy and moss had crept up its stone face and floods had carved a little at the stone. It was like they had discovered a lost temple. The Italian pass by him as he stared up at the rooftops were hanging baskets brought flora to the little slice of civilization, Lovino gave off another sharp whistle breaking the trance Gilbert had put on himself standing by a large wooden door in the corner, it was covered in flowers framing the old varnished doorway with a small painted plaque on one side expressing the date. Feliciano’s artist signature was unmistakable.

“So this is Feli’s little hideaway? I expected something….”

“Grander?” Lovino asked going through the keys on his ring “Feli has had this house since the renaissance, he makes sure the upkeep is there and he likes it because once the gate is lock it’s like he has entered his own personal world. Even if he shares it with a couple of other families”

They stood seemingly alone in the middle of the courtyard until the sound of a door unlocking caught the Prussian’s attention, he turned to see one of the neighbours. A woman in his late 80s adjusting a small shawl and peering out at the new source of the noise. She seemed surprised and peered across at the two of them before approaching.

“Feliciano is that you?” The woman made a beeline for Lovino who had only just noticed the older woman’s response. He softened recognizing her and reaching out to take her hands in a comforting gesture.

“No it's not nonna” His voice came out gently really surprising Gilbert “It’s Lovino, I came to see if Feli came home yet”

“Ah, Lovino! I haven’t seen either of you in some time! You are eating well? Work isn’t stressing you out is it?!” The woman was suddenly full of energy fussing the nation as if he were her own kin. The Italian took the overwhelming care and comfort with a smile answering her questions before sending her back home. He let out a deep breath.

“She’s…your Nonna?” Gilbert asked completely confused

“Hmm? Erm yes and no…a lot of the elderly don’t get visitors as often. Families move on and move away and some are just the only ones left. They enjoy having someone to care for. I have a lot of women I called Nonna, sometimes keeping up is a ballache but its nice”

“I was right though”

“About what?”

“She mentioned Feli” Gilbert beamed bouncing on the spot “So the people of your own nation know he existed”

“huh…you’re right” Lovino eyes widened with this new information “Then, the chances that he just moved on went down. This is something that only affects nations for sure. But why?”

“Well hurry up and open the door!” The other grew impatient “We are just stalling on an important discovery at this point!”

The lock clicked open and the door held little resistance sliding over the tiled floor in the entranceway. The hallway opened straight into a kitchen that shared a counter with a small living room, complete with a small two-seater and a chest for a coffee table covered in a small blanket, a TV mounted to the wall in the corner, and a window that overlooked the nearest canal.

“Whoa…looks too perfect for someone to live here”

Lovino was taking off his coat as he put his keys on the counter, the sentence took him off guard as he looked towards the layout of the house’s ground floor “Erm…yeah, I erm did this”

“You cleaned the house?” Gilbert asked following suit and removing his jacket. Lovino nodded

“When he first went missing I was so desperate to find some clue he was still here I kinda trashed the place and then cleaned the place up and got rid of all the food…I was a little depressed at the time but I don’t recall finding anything…unless out of date Parma ham is a clue”

The Prussian chuckled at that and moved into the house “Well let’s hope you didn’t just perfectly clean up a crime scene… Alright, how about I take the upstairs and you take the downstairs?”

“You planning on looking for his porn or something?”

“No, I figured out of the two of us I am less likely to go and cry in his bed…”

Gilbert received the middle finger but it seemed the Italian didn’t disagree.

The stairs were hidden just past the living room and snaked up to a second floor, there were a bathroom and a bedroom and a ladder at the end that led up to a door in the roof. It really was a cute little place with family pictures all over the walls. The bathroom was a basic, small bath, basin, and sink combo, Lovino seemed to have cleaned out all the bathroom supplies so there wasn’t much to look through. The bedroom was across the way. It consisted of a few shelves and a double bed up against a window that overlooked the courtyard, a few plants in a window box outside. Under the bed were drawers that he pulled out to reveal Feli’s casual clothes, it seemed the desire to have a larger bed for a small room had him seeking out creative storage solutions, which was odd since there was a wardrobe standing at the opposite end of the room. He jiggled the handle of the antique dark wood store but to no success. It was locked. Odd.

Gilbert considered climbing the ladder but he wasn’t sure if it was safe. So instead he headed down the stairs where he met Lovino, head inside the chest, he pulled back to stare the Albino in the eye. There was a sadness there, clearly, the empty house was having a negative effect on him.

“Still nothing…”

“Actually I might have something…” Gilbert admitted as Lovino became animated, jumping up with a look of shock, clearly hesitating at the prospect of news “Yeah I guess you never went into the wardrobe in Feli’s room but it’s the only thing that wasn’t left open or empty”

The moment the wardrobe was mention he watched the other flinch. So Lovino was aware of its presence but didn’t investigate it for sure. “So you do know what I am talking about”

“Well…that wardrobe is really private and personal to Feli…”

“So why not look inside it?” Gil asked raising an eyebrow “Don’t leave any stone unturned right”

“You don’t understand bastard, it’s something that Feli only ever told me…he wasn’t ready for anyone else to know” Lovino looked conflicted, whatever was hiding in that closet was something no one knew. It perked Gilbert’s curiosity but also made him feel a little guilty, one way or another that wardrobe was being opened.

“Then there is every chance Feli left something in there…if he knew it would be safe”

“Assuming he hasn’t just left” Lovino seemed defeated in more than one way “Ok…you’re right…if I don’t check everywhere I could miss something. I have a key, I will open it but…if you tell a single soul…I will personally send you to the bottom of the sea. Not even your bastard of a brother knew about this” His hand shook a little pulling out his wallet where there was small golden key stuff into the clear pocket.

The two stood side by side in front of the wardrobe, nervous energy radiated from both of them. There was every chance something would be in there that would help them, or there would be nothing and it was unclear which would be more disappointing. A small click and the doors were pulled open. Gilbert was a little shocked. Inside was a small hanging compartment and some shelves along the left side, even a small space under. On the top shelf was a wig head, with an auburn wig donned on top surrounded by bits of various make up, Shirts were underneath, and underneath that were trousers. Along the bottom was a collection of Mary-Janes, ankle boots, and slip ons, whilst hung up were a variety of skirts and dresses.

“Shit…I am not gonna lie I never expected this…Feli is still a crossdresser?!”

That boiled Lovino’s blood, he took a swing and caught the other on the cheek “My brother is not a fucking crossdresser, that’s such a filthy fucking word why would you even say that!?”

Though immediately after this action Lovino felt a small pang of guilt. He was lashing out protectively again it seemed.

“Why does he have a locked wardrobe of female clothing, makeup, and wigs!?” Gilbert snapped back rubbing his cheek as he stumbled away catching himself on the wall. The complete overreaction was boiling his own anger “You have to admit it looks really strange!”

“It’s not strange because…” Lovino seemed conflicted folding his arm and looking away “Because…because sometimes, Feli feels female”

“Female?”

“Yes Female. Most days he feels like a man but some days she feels like a woman, on those days she dresses from this wardrobe” Lovino muttered “I found out by accident, saw her when she was out and about. She was so embarrassed, thought I was going to disown her. The next day he dressed like a man, I thought he was hiding it but, he just was a man that day. But Feli still can’t bring himself to tell anyone, when she wants to be her, she never leaves Venice, terrified someone will see her…but I guess now you know too”

It was weird, Gilbert felt for the first time he saw real vulnerability, it suddenly made sense why he wouldn’t have opened this before, a small secret shared by the two of them. He didn’t understand completely but maybe Feli could explain it without the rage and hurt. “That sounds super stressful. Feeling like you can’t tell anyone”

“It was…but it made Feli happy, so who am I to rain on that parade” Lovino sighed as he took a hold of the doors and made to reclose them “Huh…”

“What?” The Prussian kept his distance not wanting to receive another punch as the Italian reached inside and pulled out a wrapped parcel hidden behind the dresses. Lovino looked between it and Gilbert.

“I guess you were right…he did hide something in here…” It was weird as Lovino spoke like the idea of Gil being right was absurd, the Prussian had to admit he felt a little insulted. Coming closer, Lovino unwrapped the string and pulled back the paper. “It’s…me?”

Inside the wrapped parcel was a small canvas painting that bore a resemblance to Lovino, leaned up by a column and draped in fabrics.

“Why would Feli hide a portrait of you, and in something so…Roman?” Gilbert asked looking over it “Wait, we haven’t found your birthday present have we?”

Gilbert looked to the other who seemed to have gears turning in his head “I doubt it, Feli finds art so commonplace he would just give it to you, not hide it… he seems to have painted me with a theme in mind…I think as Apollo?”

“Apollo?”

“Yeah, see how there is a harp just beyond the figure and the sun in the background… Apollo was one of the Roman Gods…he was in charge of pulling the sun across the sky”

“Why would he draw you like that?

“I dunno… He was also the God of music and I don’t really have anything to do with the Sun or music” Lovino’s eyes went wide “He was also the God of Truth…could it be?”

The Italian bolted from the room leaving the Albino to catch up as he grabbed at the ladder with one hand nearly falling off. Gilbert rushed in and grasped Lovino’s waist to steady him until the other had wrestled the door open and exposed the both of them to the sun that beat down on the rooftop garden.

The rooftop garden was a flat roof with a wooden building on top, the sun hit it just right. Gilbert climbed up the ladder and looking over the horizon in awe, Feli always did somehow surround himself with beauty. Lovino had paused a moment gripping the canvas to his chest.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just feel like I let him down, he left a clue for me to find and I couldn’t bring myself to find it”

“Best foot forward buttercup, now I assume you didn’t bring me up for this view” Gilbert sniggered patting the other hard on the back. Receiving a disgusted look from the use of pet names, Lovino turned on his heel and headed towards the wooden hut.

“This is Feli’s studio…” Lovino pushed open the door revealing a room full of canvas in various stages of completion. Along one end there were shelves upon shelves of clays and paints, the two forms of art Feliciano adored. “When I came in here I found something…well strange but I couldn’t figure out why”

“What’s that?”

The Italian closed the door behind them revealing a large mural of several pictures of figures dressed as different Roman Gods, eleven in total. With a nail just below the one of Jupiter which as Gilbert stared up at it seemed to be styled after Feli himself. A chair was dragged over by the other and Lovino climbed up to hang the canvas in the missing spot. As he did, the nail seemed to budge under the weight, Lovino made a noise of panic but managed to hang it. Again the nail slip lowering the image half a centimeter with a thud. In the very corner of the room, a panel of the wall popped out.

“Shit…a hidden hiding hole?” Gilbert felt a stupid smile spread over his face “Why would Feli need one of those.

“We did grow up around some amazing inventors…guess he just remembered some of the little systems”

The Prussian moved to the panel and opened it revealing a bundle of papers inside. He pulled them free seeing ‘Lovino Vargas’ written across the front “Seems he did leave you a clue…this is for sure Feli’s handwriting”

Lovino froze up again staring a hole in the papers as he lowered himself from the chair and reached over, hesitating before taking them and looking over the cover. This was it, the proof that a person no one remembers exists. He pulled the cover and read the page beneath

_‘To my dear Lovino, I can’t tell you what happened, I’m unable to for reasons I also can’t explain. Look to the Gods Apollo, each holds a piece of the puzzle to where Jupiter lays in wait’_

Gilbert mused over the wording, he seemed particular, Lovino crumbled in on himself, tears breaking free as the relief washed over him, he wasn’t crazy, and his brother was alive. The Prussian crossed the floor looking over the room and then looking back at the mural the other had left behind. He finally looked over the images one by one, at first glance they were just people of different body types, but something was more familiar.

“Hey Lovino… come here crybaby”

“Fuck you, you heartless bastard…” Lovino scrubbed his eyes coming over “What?”

“Does this one look like Elizaveta?” Gilbert pointed to a woman with brunette hair tending to a flame. The Italian had to admit it really did look familiar. Eyes casting over each picture realising more and more the imagery.

“Laura…Antonio…Roderich…he painted people he knew as the Gods? But why?”

“Each holds a piece to where Jupiter lies… Feli is Jupiter” Gilbert commented thinking hard “You don’t think…”

“Feli hid clues with the people in these paintings. But none of these people remember Feli. How would they hold clues”

“Most likely, Feli got them to each person in a way they don’t know.” Gilbert beamed brightly feeling excitement wash over him “Strap in Lovikins! This just became a heist movie!”


	5. Where to start?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter but I hope you enjoy it!

Seeing his room for the first time in years gave him a shiver of comfort. The basement was decked out with a bedroom large enough to accommodate a desk and an area for a TV and was en-suite. Jokes were made about certain types of men who live in basements but Gilbert was proud of his little slice away from the hustle and bustle. He only ever spent a prolonged amount of time in here if he was on a gaming binge but he actually spent most of his time sitting in the living room with his laptop, reading, or getting involved in whatever Ludwig’s most recent pet project was. One of those projects was this very basement.

Well, he had thinking to do, and there was only one way Germanic brothers think successfully! Down came everything on his shelves, off came the duvet and all the rubbish that had snaked into cracks were forcefully evicted. A mist of cleaner filled the air as he pulled a facemask over his nose and mouth and began the deep clean. There were ten people on that wall, Lovino’s clue was already found, and some of the documents seemed to be a bunch of drawings of people in a strange uniform. The two decided to split up, opting to collect and find the clues of people they knew they could get into.

Lovino had taken Antonio, Gilbert had taken Ludwig.

He grumbled a little buffing out the polish marks to gleam as he retrieved the can of air, eyeing the unused keyboard with sharp eyes. So he had to somehow scale the house looking for an item that most likely Ludwig didn’t even know was in his house. How the hell was he meant to find that, his brother was a very particular man, if something was amiss he would know it instantly. With the bedroom now voided of dust he moved onto the bathroom, he was going to have to get the other out of the house for a better look but how was he gonna do that.

He paused staring at the bottles in his hand. He may have an idea.

Ludwig felt a prickle lowering his paper to stare at the other.

“What do you mean we are out of every cleaning supply?” He asked, his tone suggested not to test him at that moment

“Well, I seemed to have taken the last when I did my first day home from holiday clean…” Gilbert laughed a little holding up the empty bottles”

“Then gets some more from the cleaning cupboard” The blond huffed trying to return to his print when the other made a noise, he faltered and peered again “What happened to the cleaning cupboard?”

“I dunno but it's empty...”

They both shared a look before Ludwig pushed himself up with enough force to propel him towards the kitchen, he surveyed the room for signs of foul play, but the room seemed to be in one piece. The former empire seemed to be hanging around behind him watching, so the German felt he had a reason for doubt. As he made his way to the cupboard by the back door, he opened it to reveal a broom, a vacuum, a mop, and empty shelves.

“Ugh…I guess I will add it to the list for tomorrow”

“Nice! Just in time, I am planning a massive LAN party type thing tonight”

“Party?” Ludwig paled instantly

“Yeah, me and some old gaming buddies in my room, don’t worry, we are bringing so much booze and drink and we are gonna order some takeout. Maybe that new Mexican place nearby?” Gilbert watched his brother get paler at the idea of all of that without the proper backup. Would Luddy really let the house sit in a state for any amount of time? The man strode past him grabbing his coat. “Yo where you going?”

“Emergency supplies…for your party” Ludwig muttered before heading out the door. Gilbert waved slightly, beaming internally at the success of his plan, he would totally replace all those products from their hiding places once he was done. He sniggered imagining the face of the other when he returned

“Thank fuck for siesta…” Lovino muttered lowering the blanket over the Spaniard. His face had lit up when the Italian had offered to head back to Spain with him after the meeting, Lovino almost felt guilty, he was basically using the other via his close relationship. He would just make this up to the other later. The lucky thing was, Antonio, lived in an apartment in Madrid so not a lot of places to search, but who knows what Feli was thinking when he hid them. Lovino even began to wonder if he was even set up for this kind of mystery seeing as it took someone else to figure it out. He took a deep breath looking at his phone over the photos of the art, specifically the one of Antonio. The image was clad in a draped toga and surrounded by grain. “So…Ceres huh? Subtle Feli” He thought a moment and then cast his eyes to the roof and then back to Antonio, his neighbor above had a roof garden…a place for vegetable.

The garden was a bunch of wooden boxes settled side by side, Lovino slightly remembered once time he had come over overhearing Antonio talking to the owner of the apartment about the fact the neighbor was renting out boxes on their roof garden for the community. So now he had to hope that Antonio actually broke and rented one of the boxes, it was almost a guarantee but seeing as it was a struggle to get the Spaniard to spend money on essentials, there was still a chance this would be fruitless. The only way was to go from box to box until he found the right one. It was tedious, dumb, and being the time traditionally for siesta, stupidly hot. Fortunately, there were little cards with names and apartment numbers, most likely to stop thieving, it cut down the search time as he came across three boxes with Antonio’s name. There were some vines and a few shrubs but nothing that looked like Grain, but that seemed too easy and like something the other would uproot in confusion.

He ran a hand over the boxes as he looked over the soil until Lovino felt something against his index finger. Lifting it he found a small carving of the ear of wheat, a little pointed, like an arrow, following the direction towards one of the poles holding up a vine. The Italian bit the inside of his mouth as he gingerly moved the vines to see another carving of the wheat pointing down towards a decorative stone. Picking it up revealed nothing and for a moment, a sadness washed over him, he was too late. Unless…

“Really Feli?” He groaned moving to dig through the earth, a little below the surface was a plastic bag with what looked like an old flip phone in it, lying flat against the bottom of the box. Pulling it free and standing up. Lovino took a deep breath, a stray breeze giving him a piece of relief from the heat, the phone was cold, but what do you expect from being buried so well? There was a couple of clicks on the power button but as expected, it refused to turn on. It was still a little deflating but this was something, he crossed to the small wall by the perimeter of the roof holding the phone loosely in his hand looking over the street below. For the first time, he felt himself smile, even if he still wasn’t completely sure that everything made sense. Yet Feliciano had left a trail of breadcrumbs so he couldn’t be forgotten, he had to do his best to follow the trail before crows eat it all.

He was smashed back into reality as the Italian saw a few people on the street outside staring up towards where he was. Ducking away and sitting on the floor, nervously he pulled the papers from the hiding hole and looked over the sketches, the people Feli drew were outside waiting on the street. Heart in his throat he harshly shoved the papers and the phone into his pocket and zipped it tight. What the hell was going on?!


End file.
